In order to prevent breakdown of a circuit on a circuit board when excess current flows from a mating connector through a connector mounted on the circuit board, a circuit protection element is generally provided between the connector and the circuit on the circuit board. However, if this circuit protection element is mounted on the circuit board, it is difficult to secure space for mounting other electric circuits or elements on the same circuit board so that there are still problems left in high-density mounting on circuit boards.
As a result, electrical connectors having built-in circuit protection devices were developed, and disclosed in Japanese Patent JP H11-185885 and Japanese Patent Application JP 2001-339028 A.
An electrical connector shown in FIG. 6, and disclosed in Patent JP H11-185885, protects circuits on a circuit board on which the electrical connector is mounted from breakdown due to excess current. This electrical connector in the embodiment shown includes a bus bar 123, contacts 125A and 125B, and overcurrent protection devices 124 provided within a housing (not illustrated in the drawing), as shown in FIG. 6. The bus bar 123 has branch terminals 123A and 123B within the housing. The contacts 125A and 125B make contact with respective mating contacts of a mating connector. The overcurrent protection devices 124 are arranged between the branch terminals 123A and 123B and between the contacts 125A and 125B, respectively.
Meanwhile, a connector-type semiconductor device shown in FIG. 7, and disclosed in JP 2001-339028, includes a semiconductor chip 214, which is soldered to a first lead 211 and a terminal (connector 217), sealed in an package 221. By inserting a second lead 212 to connect between a pair of connector pegs 218 provided on the connector 217, the first lead 211 and the second lead 212 are connected to each other via the semiconductor chip 214.
However, since the multiple contacts 125A and 125B are not mutually insulated, the electrical connector disclosed in JP H11-185885 is limited to only applications that use these segments in common functionality, and thus flexibility of circuit formation is low. Namely, since the multiple contacts 125A and 125B are connected as a circuit, and voltage throughout the circuit is thus the same, they can only be applied as a dedicated electrical connector for overcurrent protection for power branching etc. Moreover, since the connector-type semiconductor device disclosed in JP 2001-339028 has a structure in which the second lead 212 is inserted between the pair of connector pegs 218 to connect them, space within the small connector for receiving a multi-position circuit cannot be ensured.